1. Have a 30-minute window where you can excuse yourself so you’re not stressed and your patient is not overly inconvenienced. 2. Develop a plan with your hygienist to be followed with each patient when you enter the room. 3. Your hygienist needs to efficiently bring you up to speed so that you can proceed quickly. 4. Don't to be hurried otherwise you will miss opportunities. Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a speaker in...
In a general practice, a hygienist can see 8-10 patients per day with operative also seeing 8-10 patients plus consultations, impressions, etc. Variables can include the type of dentistry being done (including SRPs), number of ops and whether there is some form of assisted hygiene in use Regularly moving patients like this is a no-no. It wastes time and and pisses patients off. If this isn't a "laziness" issue then you, the practice owner and the hygienists need to come up with a scheduling plan to accommodate the 90 minute appointments without having to change other patient's appointments. Assisted hygiene might...
a. Don't allow anyone to use petty cash as an ATM, including the practice owner. b. Have some kind of written log/slip system to record cash in and out. c. Use a safe or lock box, and allow only those who need to access having a key or the combination. Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a speaker in the mid-1990s, Kevin went on to become Cambridge’s senior consultant and eventually CEO. Cambridge Dental Consultants is...
Scripts are OK as general outlines for predictable situations (new patient phone calls, etc.). But front desk people need to think on their feet and actually hear what patients are saying and what they mean, and be able to handle each situation accordingly.
